AERA Selects Leslie T. Fenwick to Deliver 2023 Brown Lecture in Education Research
Leslie T. Fenwick, dean emerita of the Howard University School of Education, where she is a professor of educational policy and leadership, and dean in residence at AACTE, has been selected by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) to present the 2023 Brown Lecture in Education Research. This public lecture will take place on Thursday, October 19, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. ET, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
Fenwick is a nationally known scholar with deep expertise in public policy, educational equity, and leadership and leadership studies. She is author of the award-winning book Jim Crow’s Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership (Harvard Education Press), which was released in 2022 and has been referenced by The New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post, Politico, and Education Week. Fenwick is also a section editor of the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (AERA) and a contributor to the bestselling book The Last Word: The Best Commentary and Controversy in American Education (Education Week Press).
She is a member of the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2022, Fenwick was appointed by President Joe Biden to the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Military Academy, where she has served as a MCLC Senior Fellow since 2017 and occasionally lectures about character leadership and ethics. During her tenure as dean, the Howard University School of Education attained its first ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s list of top-100 Schools/Colleges of Education.
“Dr. Fenwick’s extensive contributions to the field and her commitment to educational equity are inimitable,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Her scholarship through a public policy lens and her work in guiding the next generation of education leadership will provide an important perspective for the Brown Lecture.”
A public-facing scholar known as a fearless voice for education equity, Fenwick’s widely disseminated policy research monographs and op-ed articles have been cited and published by leading national media outlets, think tanks, and education associations; has delivered more than 100 distinguished lectures and keynotes to national and international audiences; and regularly appears in the media discussing equal educational opportunity, educator workforce diversity, and education policy.
Fenwick received her B.S. in elementary education from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership from The Ohio State University.
The Brown Lecture, now in its 20th year, was inaugurated by AERA in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court took scientific research into account in issuing its landmark ruling ending legal racial segregation in public schools.
The 2023 Brown Lecture Selection Committee included AERA Social Justice Action Committee Chair Jamel K. Donnor (College of William & Mary), AERA President Tyrone Howard (University of California, Los Angeles), AERA Past President Rich Milner (Vanderbilt University), AERA Social Justice Action Committee Member Monika Williams Shealey (Rowan University), AERA Social Justice Action Committee Member Royel Johnson (University of Southern California), AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine, and AERA Diversity Officer George L. Wimberly.
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning.
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